It was getting colder and the sun set earlier and earlier.

Su Jueming, who had been sitting in the Qichang Foreign Shop for the whole afternoon, wore a melon-skin hat as usual and headed straight to the Bund along the road built by foreigners.

There were traffic on the road. He walked around curiously as if he had come at one time. He stopped to see the bustle when he encountered rare things. When he was tired, he found a clean place to sit down and rest for a while until he was silently figuring out how many foreign ships were on the river, whether it was a gunship or a merchant ship, and how many guns were on the gunship, so he returned to the Sichuan Guild Hall along the main road.

The concession is small, not big. There are only a handful of officials who are idle and wandering around the concession every day.

Along the way, the staff from several foreign companies almost recognized him, and often mocked him behind his back for having no power or money. Even the government office was occupied by foreigners, so they could only live in the Sichuan Guild Hall. But whenever they saw him, they would come out and shout "Master Su", and sometimes they would invite him in for a cup of tea.

Su Jueming had been used to being sarcastic. On the surface, he always pretended to be frustrated in the officialdom and extremely down-and-out, but he was thinking in his heart what was so great about you "fake foreigners". He was secretly scolding Wang Agui for being able to stay in the concession for the rest of his life. Yang Nian's second son, Yang Qinghe, the shopkeeper of the "Houyi Hall", had emerged from the cracks.

"Third Master, Mr. Zhou is back! Auntie happens to be at home. When she heard that Mr. Zhou is back, she asked the young man to come out to find you quickly."

Su Jueming looked back and asked in a low voice: "Why did he come back so quickly? Is things not going well?"

Yang Nianjia hurriedly said, "Mr. Zhou said that all the things that my aunt had assigned were done. The reason why she came back so quickly was not that it was not that it was not that it was not that it was not that it was not that it was too smooth, but that it was too smooth."

"What is too smooth?"

"He went to Suzhou first, and then went to find Zhang Yuliang, 'Tiger', 'Xiaohu' and the others. Although Xiang Shuai died in his country, there were still many generals from Shu in Jiangnan. Zhang Guoliang could not help but give them face. Mr. Zhou also said that the journey was not as dangerous as before, and said that the long-haired turtle had retreated into Jiangning City."

The Master Zhou mentioned by Yang Nianjia is Zhou Xingyuan, the former "Bronze King". He was originally a county magistrate in Shanghai but he was a job of setting up a card to draw money every day. He was jealous of everyone. When Xiang Rong was there, no one dared to touch him. As a result, as soon as the news that Xiang Rong died of illness in the army reached Shanghai, it was jointly submitted by Shanghai Lan Weiwen and Shanghai magistrate Huang Fang, and the imperial court issued an order to dismiss his post and investigate.

Xue Huan knew exactly where the lijin that Zhou Xingyuan drew went.

However, Xiang Rong was just an imperial envoy who was in charge of military affairs in Jiangnan during his lifetime, and he could not take care of local affairs. The arrangement of Zhou Xingyuan to come to Shanghai to set up a silk tea bureau to raise funds was not enough. Moreover, Xue Huan was the prefect of Suzhou, not the prefect of Songjiang. Even the prefect of Songjiang could not take care of Shanghai's affairs. He could only do it in a hurry but could not help.

The Sili Bureau's account could not stand the investigation at all. Zhou Xingyuan didn't want to sit and wait for death, so he hid in the concession with more than 50,000 liang of gold that had not had time to resolve to the Jiangnan Camp!

Ren Yuer knew that he had a good relationship with Han Xiufeng, and also knew that he was really wronged this time.

Thinking of the urgent need for money turnover of "Houyi Hall", otherwise Wen Xiang and Wang Naizeng would not have asked the semicolons to help find a solution. They simply took Zhou Xingyuan in, making Zhou Xingyuan the person in the Shanghai semicolon of "Houyi Hall". The more than 50,000 liang of gold was also transferred to the capital through "Risenchang".

Ren Yuer asked Zhou Xing to go to find Zhang Yuliang, Hu Songlin, Hu Kunyuan, Zhang Yinglu, Zhou Tianshou, Zhou Tianpei and Zhou Tianfu last month. It was not because of Li Jin, but wanted to help Han Xiufeng's righteous brother Du San to ask for grace. After all, people died but could not die in vain.

Thinking whether Du San was considered a sacrifice to his country, it was just a matter of Zhang Guoliang, who helped Jiangnan military affairs. Zhang Guoliang could not have given so many Shu generals face, Su Jueming thought about it and asked: "Since the matter has been done, my aunt knows it, why is she in a hurry to ask you to come out to find me?"

"My aunt said that a letter has been sent to the capital!"

"knew."

A letter from the capital is not a trivial matter. Su Jueming dared not ask outside. Even if he asked the Yang Nian family, he wouldn't know, so he hurriedly speeded up.

He hurried to the mansion behind the guild hall, and saw Ren Yuer standing in the glass greenhouse in the yard, wearing gloves and holding a pair of scissors, cutting and arranging flowers according to the patterns in the foreign albums.

This is one of the courses in the girls' school. Su Jueming didn't find it strange. He bowed to Zhou Xingyuan who was standing aside, and then asked carefully: "Ms. Ren, have you heard from the Nian family that I have come from Beijing?"

"I'm here," Ren Yuer put down her scissors and turned around and said, "Mr. Wang has said three things in the letter, two good news and one bad news."

This accent is also learned from foreigners. Su Jueming was not surprised by it, so he couldn't help but smile and said, "You'd better tell bad news first."

"We actually knew the bad news long ago, it was the British army in Hong Kong attacking Guangzhou. Mr. Wang asked us to quickly find out whether Britain and Geely would be dispatched from the local area, quickly find out the movements of France and the United States, and pay attention to the movements of foreigners in Shanghai."

Ren Yu'er walked to the stone table, picked up Lian'er's freshly brewed coffee and took a sip, wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, and then said, "The good news is that my fourth brother won a great victory in Hubei. The emperor not only promoted my fourth brother to Shaoqing of Taipu Temple, but ordered my fourth brother to return to Beijing immediately to take office, but also ordered my fourth brother to walk additionally on the military machine and the Beijing."

Su Jueming thought that this was really good news, and couldn't help but smile and said, "It's great, I know that the Fourth Master will return to Beijing sooner or later, and will be promoted sooner or later!"

Zhou Xingyuan also sighed: "Although the Shaoqing of Taipu Temple is not Xiaojiuqing, he is also a second-rank official. The Fourth Master has already made the fourth-rank Jingtang that is extremely noble. The Emperor ordered the Fourth Master to walk on the Military Machinery and the King of the Warehouse, which shows that the Fourth Master is so loyal to him!"

"Although my fourth brother has been in the fourth-grade Jingtang and has been in the 'little military aircraft', I guess there will be no fewer people who are jealous. Whether his status can be stable, we can help with some efforts, so we cannot relax our errands in Shanghai."

"Miss is right, Miss, don't worry, I will definitely inquire carefully."

"Yes." Ren Yuer nodded slightly, then looked at Zhou Xingyuan with a smile and said, "Another, Mr. Zhou, you don't have to worry about the Sili Bureau anymore. Mr. Wang said that Lan Weiwenguang knew to impeach others, and he didn't think about his own butt being able to do it. He couldn't do this for a few days. The new Daotai was named Tang and his name was Yunsong. He was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Daoguang. Not only was he a colleague of the Hanlin Academy with Master Ji Yunfeiji, but he was the same year as Zhuo Shi, the son of Zhuo Zhongtang and Gong Ying from Ba County.

Lord Zhuo Zhuo is now in office as the right minister of the Ministry of War. When he learned that Tang Yunsong was going to release Su Song Taidao, he also held a wine with Mr. Ji at the Chongqing Guild Hall to wish Tang Yunsong a high success. Not only was Mr. Wen and Mr. Wang invited him to the banquet, but before the banquet, he also took him to the ceremonial temple of the guild to worship Xiang Shuai's portrait and spiritual position, and then privately told him about the Silk Tea House."

Zhou Xingyuan's heart finally fell, and he couldn't help but sigh: "There are people in the court and no one are different. If it weren't for Lord Wen and Mr. Wang's care, I, Zhou Xingyuan, would have jumped into the Huangpu River and couldn't wash it clearly!"

"Mr. Wen has a prosperous official career, but if it weren't for my fourth brother, would he have today?" Ren Yu'er smiled and said meaningfully: "As for your affairs, Tang Yunsong also depends on the face of Lord Zhuo and Mr. Ji. After all, it depends on the face of my fourth brother. He has no friendship with Lord Wen."

"Yes, yes, the lady said yes, after all, it depends on the Fourth Master!"

"Mr. Zhou, that's what I said. You don't have to talk about the Fourth Master at once. What kind of friendship do you have with my Fourth Brother? When I talk about it, I have to call you brother."

Now is different from the past. Zhou Xingyuan dares not treat even Suzhou prefect Xue Huan, who is not afraid to provoke, and even Shanghai Daolan Weiwen, called her brother and sister, and hurriedly bowed: "Miss is really good at joking. Xingyuan is a crime, so he dare not call her brother and brother to the Fourth Master, otherwise he will really not understand the rules."

"You are always so polite. You say you are my own, why are you so disgusted?"

Ren Yuer squatted slightly and said with great blessings.

How dare Zhou Xingyuan accept this great gift? He hurriedly bowed and replied.

Su Jueming was muttering that Ren Yuer had studied books. Not only did she read books of sages but also books of foreigners. She became more and more smart and more powerful, and even became less like a woman. She even beat Zhou Xingyuan, who was born in a juren. Just as she was thinking that the Fourth Master would definitely look at him with admiration, Zhou Xingyuan suddenly said: "Miss Ren, Xingyuan was in the Jintan Army this time. I heard Zhang Yuliang and the others say that Changmao's battle in the past few months was a bit strange."

Although Ren Yuer was only interested in the movements of foreigners, she still asked with a smile: "What's wrong?"

"They said that Qin Rigang defeated Jiangbei. After the Jiangnan official army not only failed to pursue the victory, but also quickly led their troops back to Jiangning. They stayed in Jiangning for several days before they were sent out to attack Danyang and Jintan. The news that Xiang Shuai died of illness spread very quickly in the army, and even many people in Danyang and Jintan knew about it.

The head commander of the official army died. Logically speaking, they should have attacked fiercely, but on the fourth day after Xiang Shuai died of illness, they suddenly withdrew from Danyang and all the troops! Later, they heard that they were going to attack Jintan, and there were only more than 1,000 regiments and more than 700 green camp soldiers led by Li Hongxun in Jintan City. They were surrounded by them on the east, west and north sides. The reinforcements led by Zhang Yuliang and others were unable to get close to them, but after more than 20 days of attack, the city was almost broken, and they quietly pulled out the camp overnight."

"Isn't it good to retreat long-haired soldiers?" Ren Yuer asked subconsciously.

Zhou Xingyuan explained: "It's not that it's not that the troops are not good, but that the battle is a bit strange. Think about it, they fought from Jiangnan to the riverside and conquered the city and land all the way. It was so powerful that they fought over and over again, but they didn't occupy a single city, so they retreated like this, even allowing He Chun and Zhang Guoliang to gather the defeated troops and reorganize the Jiangnan camp. What's the difference between this and not fighting? What exactly do they want?"

Ren Yuer was a woman after all, and she helped to inquire about the Yiqing and thought that she really didn't understand the matter in the battle. But when she thought of the letter she had just received at noon, she couldn't help but murmur: "Shi Dakai, the thief who went to attack Hubei and assist Wuchang City, seemed to be fighting and retreating like Qin Rigang. If Shi Dakai hadn't retreated, my fourth brother wouldn't have been able to return to Beijing."

"So the long hair in Hubei is also a terrible tail?"

"That's what Mr. Wang said in his letter."

"Ms. Ren, can you let Xingyuan see Mr. Wang's letter?"

"What's wrong with this? Lian'er, go and help me bring the letter."

"OK."

...

After waiting for a while, Lian'er received the translated letter.

Zhou Xingyuan didn't care about appreciating Ren Yuer's handwriting, but only looked at the content. As he looked at it, he pondered: "Is the rumors true? Is there really a strife?"

"Mr. Zhou, you mean..." Ren Yuer couldn't help asking.

Zhou Xingyuan put down the letter and explained: "Miss I don't know. This time Xingyuan went to Jintan and met several traitors who often went to Jiangning outside Jiangning City to trade with Changmao. They said that Changmao had an internal strife. You kill me, I kill you, kill many people, and they all died of old thieves in Guangxi."

"This is actually something!" Ren Yuer was shocked.

"I asked Zhang Yuliang and Zhou Tianpei. They had heard many rumors, not that they were circulating with their noses and eyes, but that they were spread more and more exaggerated. Some said that Hong Xiuquan was dead, some said that Yang Xiuqing was dead, and some said that Qin Rigang was dead, and no one dared to take it seriously. After all, there have been too many similar rumors in recent years, and even the imperial envoy Sai Shanga lied to that year. It was not counted as the rumors among the people. If the Guangji report was added up, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing had already died dozens of times in the past few years!"

Ren Yuer asked: "Is this time true or false?"

"Who can explain this clearly?" Zhou Xingyuan said with a wry smile.
Chapter completed!